lost at home // reddie

FOUR: ITS ALMOST HALLOWEEN

it's some time near eleven o'clock on a wednesday and beverly marsh is at the tozier residence again. all the lights in the house are turned on, they usually are, and richie is sitting on his kitchen counter.

the two kids should be sleeping, but they're wide awake.  it was initially a conversation about a halloween party they wanted to throw because richie's parents would be out of town as usual, but it's now just them rambling about whatever they think of at the moment.  this is mostly richie's fault, as he can't really stay on one topic for very long, but beverly almost never minds, she likes talking to him anyway.

"so, when are you finally gonna ask ben out?" richie asks, shifting to lay down on the counter island. his legs draped over the sides and he has a cigarette in his left hand.

"probably when you finally get the guts to have a conversation with eddie," beverly replied, flashing a knowing smirk at him. "you guys would totally get along if you guys just talked. i cant figure out what's the deal with you two."

"isn't kaspbrak scared of me?" richie asks, playing dumb as best as he could. he always had the slightest feeling beverly had caught on to the two boys' shenanigans awhile ago, but he'd never say it to her face.

"he isn't, actually." she argues, tapping the excess ash off her cigarette.

"how do you know? you don't even talk to him that much." he says, turning on his side to face her. it was true. eddie was only really close to stan and bill, everyone else in the group was more of an acquaintance it seemed like, at least in richie's opinion.

"bill tells me everything, so does ben. i always ask." beverly says, smiling again. of course she does, richie thought. beverly marsh always listens, and she knows everything about everyone. if she wasn't as nice as she was, she could ruin anyone's life if she really wanted to. richie absolutely adores it too, beverly is amazing.

it's funny just how much richie loves beverly, but it's entirely platonic. nobody would expect them to be just friends, but it's not like anyone would expect them to get together either. most of derry is pretty dead set on thinking richie tozier is a full on homosexual, and sometimes it pisses him off. it's not that he has a problem with gay people, or even being gay, it's that an entire town just accepted something as a fact when richie himself didn't even know his sexuality for sure. he knows he likes boys, and he's had crushes on girls, but bisexuality isn't really a label he wants to use, and saying he's gay in derry of all places is an absolute death wish.

either way, he knew he didn't have feelings for beverly. as much as people would like to say it, he just wasn't into her. richie could acknowledge that she's absolutely breathtaking, she really is. beverly is beautiful and smart, she always knows how to listen and what to say, she's perfect. everyone can say all they want about her,  the entire highschool could muster up every way to call her a slut and they'd be wrong, and she wouldn't care.  words from highschool girls that can't keep boyfriends, or even genuine friends for that matter, haven't bothered beverly marsh ever since she met richie in eighth grade biology class.  he was like her protective shield, and she was his.

"so what does eddie say about me?" richie finally asks, remembering the real root of his frustration on this wednesday evening. he caught beverly's pleased eye roll, and quickly understood he was digging himself a hole, but his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"he just thinks you're really cool," beverly says, flashing him a look that tells him she'll probably be talking for awhile. "sometimes when we're all hanging out somebody will mention you, usually saying they wish you were here since you're always at work or sleeping, and he'll talk about running into you sometimes and how he's too scared to talk to you but he thinks you're really cool. he sees the way you're so good at comforting people sometimes, despite the fact that you try to look threatening. sometimes i think he's got a crush on you." she mentions. the last part made richie choke up a bit, he's damn lucky he was drinking water so he'd have an excuse.

a crush. that's definitely something richie will find himself overthinking for at least a week when he's supposed to be sleeping.

"you alright there, rich? seems like something's botherin ya." she says, shooting him that stupid look that says i know exactly what you're thinking.

"water went down a bit too fast." he says, messing with his hair. god, she really can read his mind, that's what richie thought. beverly was too smart for her own good, and she really could see everything someone was thinking with one stupid look.

"maybe you shouldn't drink water while you're laying down."  she comments, crossing her legs and smiling at richie. she'd drop the subject for now, but he knew there was no real rest for this conversation. all he really needs to do is make a move, and eventually it won't always be a secret.

"anyway, that halloween party." richie says, changing the subject back to its origin. halloween was only about a week away, and richie wanted the holiday to be extravagant. no tacky decorations and cheap movies, he wanted real scares and real fun, maybe even some alcohol if he played his cards right, but that was something he'd figure out when he got to it.

"are we buying decorations, or is that not your thing?" beverly asks, mocking richie's earlier comments about how all the halloween decorations at the local stores were boring. she knew he was right though, some oversized spiders and fake cobwebs looked tacky no matter what, but that was probably the best they could do, even with richie's handy employee discount at the local convenience store.

"that's my issue, i don't want something tacky, but i am not dealing with a boring party." richie says, turning onto his back again.

"well rather than stressing about decorations, how about we figure out who we're inviting and what we'll do?" beverly suggests, hoping richie's taking her hint.

"yeah, the losers are invited. you, me, bill, ben, stan, mike, and eddie." he says, and then he gets the hint.  richie tozier has once again dig himself a hole, and beverly is enjoying it way too much.

"so how are we gonna make it so eddie actually shows up unless you start talking to him?" she asks, trying her best to set things up.

"easy. bill can invite him over for a sleepover and then we all come here. easy peasy." richie says, giving beverly a thumbs up and turning to wink at her.

"and what about the fact that you two never talk, you just know he's gonna be fine with all this?" she asks, laughing a bit at the plan. "is there something you wanna tell me, tozier?"

"yeah, i'm fucking eddie's mom." he snaps, tossing the cigarette butt in her direction and laughing.

"oh a classic one, rich, didn't know you had it in you." beverly comments, throwing up jazz hands at him. "but seriously, it's not like i'm gonna make a big deal about it if you guys are secretly friends or something. don't think i couldn't hear you two at movie night." she adds.

"marsh, you're on thin ice." richie says. he's playing it cool on the outside, but god damn he didn't expect beverly to really know anything. in his mind he saw it as her suspecting something, not really knowing what was going on behind the scenes. it makes him wonder just how much everyone knows.

"hey, my lips are locked. nobody else knows except for me. i pinky promise." she says.

"alright, yeah. we used to be a lot closer but didn't want anyone to know because we didn't know what we were doing.  shit hit the fan awhile back and we grew apart like i thought we would so we agreed to keep our mouths shut." he admits, sighing.

"i'm glad you guys are talking again then." beverly says. it's genuine too, richie can feel it. he'll never tell her the full extent of things, at least not now, but he's glad he could get it off his chest. he can trust beverly, he just doesn't know what to do.

"i don't want to keep talking about him. i've got first period tomorrow with him and i don't wanna be thinking about how i spent the night gushing over him with my best friend." richie laughs. "so, i was thinking we go trick or treating, even though we're a bit too old for it."

"that's the spirit, rich."